1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to automating and improving search capabilities of customers and providing them access to choices based on their search criteria and more specifically to providing improved optical searching using tokens and logos with handheld devices.
2. Related Art
The fast growth of mobile handheld communication devices (MHCD) over the last few years has created new opportunities in the fields of advertising, marketing and sales. One of the areas of advancement has been in the area of searching the internet. The trend for shopping is moving from in-store to internet and is being fueled in part by the ease of searching for goods and services and brands using the MHCDs. Companies like Amazon and Alibaba have made internet shopping a main-steam event, especially for the younger generation of web-savy shoppers.
Previously, internet searches were done using key-words, but that is changing now with the inclusion of cameras and scanners on the MHCDs. These provide an easier way to search for products and services by scanning optical codes, tokens and logos. A number of application programs (APPs) have sprung up that provide the capability to the consumer to search using the logos and optical tokens. Currently most companies have one or more mobile APPs that enable visual scan. Typically, the APP will also have the logos of the brand or product with it. In a typical search process the APP has to be downloaded on to the MHCD and enabled on the MHCD prior to the scan. The optical token or logo is photographed or scanned by the MHCD to initiate the search. The APPs decodes the token and over the net accesses the specific brand/product/service web portal to download the web page on to the MHCD for the user to study and evaluate. Since each company or brand has its own mobile APPs and Logo/token covering individual products this process becomes difficult for the user to conduct a generic search for a product or service availability.